Shoreline Change Assessment

for KERALA Coast

Complex and diverse types of natural
processes that occur on the coastal zone
bring in physical, chemical, and biological
changes to the fragile coastlines. The
coastline of India is undergoing changes
due to several human interventions.
Most of the shoreline changes are on
account of the structures which have
been constructed along the foreshore
of the countrys coast. Several of these
developments are not compatible with the
dynamic nature of the shoreline. Because
Shri. Jairam Ramesh
Honble Union Minister of of these factors, it has become imperative
Environment and Forests to identify areas subject to both long- and
short-term erosion, since in most cases, rates of
erosion have enhanced during the past decade.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests is
mapping the coastline to enhance the Indias
preparedness to face sea hazards like storm surge
and Tsunami.
The National Assessment of Shoreline Change
for Gujarat, Puducherry and Odisha has already
been released by the Honble Union Minister
of Environment and Forests, Shri. Jairam
Ramesh. The shoreline change maps for the
coast of Kerala is being released and the major
highlights are provided in this fact sheet.

Kerala - Facts & Figures

Latitude 10 00' N
Longitude 76 25' E
Area 38863 km2
Kerala State 33,387,677
Population
Population Density 859/km2
Length of Coastline 580 km
(km)
Paravur
Population in Coastal 9,397,625
Coastal erosion becomes a hazard and gain (accretion) of coastal land is a Districts
where human activity is threatened visible result of the way shorelines are Area of Coastal 22418 km2
by a temporary or permanent hold reshaped in the face of these dynamic Districts
back of the shoreline. Coastal accretion conditions. Average Population 2022/ km2
is the opposite, where the shoreline Density in Coastal (2001 Census)
builds over time. Shorelines and Shorelines change seasonally, tending Districts
coastal processes are not restricted by to accrete slowly during the summer Total number of 44
administrative borders, and constantly months when sediments are deposited rivers in Kerala
change in response to wind, waves, by relatively low energy waves and West Flowing 41
tides, sea level fluctuation, seasonal and erode dramatically during the winter
East Flowing 3
climatic variation, human alteration, when sediments are moved offshore by
and other factors that influence the high energy storm waves. In addition, Longest River Periyar
movement of sand and material within attempting to halt natural coastal process Longest Backwater Vembanad
a shoreline system. The loss (erosion) with seawalls and other hard structures Lake

National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) Society of Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM)
Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India
only shifts the problem, subjecting
downdrift coastal areas to similar losses.
Also, without the sediment transport,
some of the beaches, dunes, barrier
beaches, salt marshes, and estuaries
are threatened and would disappear as
the sand sources that feed and sustain
them are eliminated.
As populations continue to grow
and community infrastructures are
threatened by coastal erosion, there
is increased demand for accurate
information regarding past and present
trends and rates of shoreline movement.
There is also a need for a comprehensive
analysis of shoreline movement that is
consistent from one coastal region to
another. In order to correctly interpret
shoreline change, all shoreline data
were analyzed and evaluated in light
of current shoreline conditions, recent
changes in shoreline uses, and the affects
of human-induced alterations to natural
shoreline movements. In areas that
show shoreline change reversals (i.e.,
where the shoreline fluctuates between
erosion and accretion) or areas that
have been extensively altered by human
activities, knowledge of natural and
human impacts are typically required
for proper interpretation.
The coastline of the state of Kerala
is ~590km long and consists of nine
coastal districts. The southern tip of
Kerala coast borders the state of Tamil
Nadu and the northern end connects to
the state of Karnataka.
Shoreline Change
Assessment of Kerala
The shoreline change assessment of
Kerala Coast represents long-term
shoreline change for a period of 38 years
from 1972-2010. Shoreline change
evaluations are based on comparing
National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM)
Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India
five historical shorelines extracted from
satellite imageries for the above time
period, with recent shoreline derived
from Landsat - 5 for the years 1990,
2000 and 2006 and LISS III images (for
2010) including limited field surveys.
For the coast of Kerala, base maps
were prepared on 1:50,000 scale using
the toposheet of the Survey of India.
Onscreen digitization of coastline was
made using various satellite imageries
on 1:50,000 scale and stored as different
layers in GIS environment for the years
1990, 2000, 2006 and 2010. Depending
on location and data source, different
proxies for shoreline position were
used to document coastal change,
including high water line, wet-dry line,
vegetation line, dune toe or crest, toe
or berm of the beach, cliff base or top,
and the instantaneous water line as
extracted from satellite imagery. These
multi-date shorelines served as input
into the USGS Digital Shoreline Analysis
System (DSAS) software to cast various
transects along the coast of Kerala. A
distance of 500m intervals from the
baseline was assigned to calculate the
erosion/ accretion statistics in ArcGIS
9.3 software. The results obtained were
categorized into eight classes of Zones
of erosion/ accretion as follows:
(Eroding Coast)
Society of Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM)
Table 1: Shoreline Characteristics and Statistics for Kerala Coast

Extent Percent of
Classification of Coast Cumulative %
(km) Coast
Length of Coastline 587.8
High Erosion Zone 2.3 0.40
Medium Erosion Zone 9.2 1.57
Low Erosion Zone 49.2 8.37
Vizhinjam Harbour
Artificial Coast: (Eroding Coast) 309.7 52.69 63.02#
Stable Coast 46.3 7.87 7.87$
High Accretion Zone 28.8 4.90
Medium Accretion Zone 53.1 9.03
Low Accretion Zone 58.69 9.98 23.92
Rocky Coast 30.5 5.18 5.18
Number of Ports 17
Number of Harbours 11
Number of Fish Landing Centres 90 Peramatura Harbour
Number of Groynes 106
Number of Breakwaters 25

(Sum of High erosion + Medium erosion + Low erosion + Artificial Coast)

#

(Sum of High accretion + Medium accretion+ Low accretion)

$

Fig. 1: Overall Erosion/ Accretion Pattern along the Kerala coast

Kappil

Thalassery Fishing Harbour

Ponmana: Sand Mining

National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) Society of Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM)
Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India
 Table 2: Erosion/ accretion characteristics near Ports

Coastal Districts of Ports South North

Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram Vizhinjam Low Erosion Artificial Coast
Valiathura Artificial Coast Artificial Coast
Kollam Sakthikulanga Artificial Coast Artificial Coast
Kollam Harbour Artificial Coast Artificial Coast
Neendakara Harbour
Alappuzha Nil
Ernakulam Cochin Artificial Coast High Accretion
Munambam - Artificial Coast Medium
Kodungallor Accretion
Thrissur Nil
Malappuram Nil
Kozhikode Beypore High Accretion Artificial Coast
Vadakara Low Accretion Stable Coast
Kannur Thalassery Artificial Coast Artificial Coast Kollam Fishing Harbour
Mapilla Fishing Harbor Artificial Coast Artificial Coast
Kasaragod Nil

Major Port Intermediate Port Minor Port

Table 3: Erosion/ accretion characteristics near river mouths

Coastal Districts of Rivers draining South North

Kerala into Arabian Sea Cochin Harbour
Thiruvananthapuram Neyyar River Low Erosion Low Erosion
Panathura River Artificial Coast High Erosion
Kollam Nil
Alappuzha Nil
Ernakulam Nil
Thrissur Periyar River Artificial Coast Artificial Coast
Malappuram Bharathapuzha Low Erosion Low Accretion
River/Ponnani
River Periyar River
Kozhikode Murat River Low Erosion Artificial Coast
Korapuzha/ Low Erosion Low Erosion
Anelapuzha
Chaliyar River High Accretion Artificial Coast
Kadalundi River Artificial Coast Artificial Coast
Kannur Mahe River Stable Coast Artificial Coast
Anjarakandi Puzha Artificial Coast Artificial Coast
Dharmadam Artificial Coast Artificial Coast Ponnani Port
Puzha/Tellichery
River
Kasaragod Karingode River Low Accretion Low Erosion
Chittari River Low Erosion Low Erosion
Chandragiri River Low Erosion Low Accretion
Mogral River Low Accretion Stable Coast
Uppala River Low Accretion Stable Coast

Baypore

National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) Society of Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM)
Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India
Along the Kerala coast, eroding areas
(sum of high+medium+low erosion)
account for 10.3%. Seawalls and/or
riprap revetments / groynes have been
constructed in as much as 310 km of
the coastal stretch of Kerala to protect
coastal infrastructure from erosion
and these areas have been classified as
Artificial Coast. It is evident that nearly
53% of the Kerala coast is classified
under this category. These artificial
coasts are essentially eroding coasts and
is managed by structures. It is therefore
only appropriate to consider artificial
coasts as eroding coasts. Thus, the overall
erosion characteristics of the Kerala coast
is 63.02% (sum of high+medium+low
erosion+artificial coast). This indicates
that only 37% of Keralas coast is
natural (no intervention). Of this,
accretion is dominant along 24% of the
coast, particularly in the Ernakulam
District, which has an intricate network
of backwaters (Vembanad Lake). Sum
of high, medium and low erosion on the
natural coastline of Kerala is 10% and
8% is stable coast.
District-wise erosion/ accretion
characteristics
There are nine coastal districts in
Kerala, which have key infrastructure
facilities such as Ports and Harbours
and the intricate network of backwaters
and wetlands along the coast. District-
wise statistics indicate that erosion is
dominant in all the coastal districts of
Kerala (Fig. 2), with minimum erosion
at Thrissur District (1.5%) and the
maximum at Thiruvananthapuram
(23%). Artificial coasts are dominant at
Kollam and Ernakulam (80%). Maximum
accretion occurs at Thissur (41%) and the
minimum at Kollam (5.5%). It is possible
therefore to correlate high accretion to
less artificially managed coasts and vice
versa. Stable coasts are more prevalent
along the coast of Thiruvananthapuram
(17%). Tables 3 and 4 provide details
of shoreline change dynamics observed
near ports and harbours and at river
mouths.

Fig. 2: District-wise erosion/ accretion characteristics of Kerala coast

In summary, this assessment indicates that the a major stretch of Keralas coastline (~63%) is eroding (including artificial
coast). Based on the above information and data it is advised that proper precautions be taken prior to erecting any further
structures along the eroding and vulnerable coastal stretches of Kerala.

Prepared by: Ramesh R, Purvaja R, Senthil Vel A

Acknowledgements: Shri. JM Mauskar, IAS, Special Secretary, MoEF, Dr. Nalini Bhat, Adviser, MoEF and
Shri. Tapas Paul, World Bank ICZM Project Leader
Graphic Design by : Swamynathan SA
Contributed by : J.Rajkumar, G. Mary Divya Suganya, V.P. Sathiya Bama, P.D. Tulasi Bai , S. Satish Kumar, Chakravarthi P.
E. Kumaran, R. Ganesh, P. Pandi Selvam, K. Balaji and S. Elamathi
Satellite imageries: National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), ISRO, Department of Space, Government of India
COOPERATING ORGANIZATIONS
National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management [NCSCM], Chennai
Society of Integrated Coastal Management [SICOM], New Delhi
Institute for Ocean Management, Anna University, Chennai & ENVIS - COAST

For more information contact: Prof. R. Ramesh

National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India
Koodal Building, Anna University, Chennai 600 025 http://www.ncscm.org/
This fact sheet is also available online at http://www.ncscm.org

National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) Society of Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM)
Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India
 Vembanad Lake

National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) Society of Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM)
Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India